{"title":"Scientists' warning on endangered food webs","authors":"R. Heleno, W. Ripple, A. Traveset","doi":"10.5194/we-20-1-2020","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. All organisms are ultimately dependent on a large diversity of consumptive\nand non-consumptive interactions established with other organisms, forming\nan intricate web of interdependencies. In 1992, when 1700 concerned\nscientists issued the first “World Scientists' Warning to Humanity”, our\nunderstanding of such interaction networks was still in its infancy. By\nsimultaneously considering the species (nodes) and the links that glue them\ntogether into functional communities, the study of modern food webs – or\nmore generally ecological networks – has brought us closer to a predictive\ncommunity ecology. Scientists have now observed, manipulated, and modelled\nthe assembly and the collapse of food webs under various global change\nstressors and identified common patterns. Most stressors, such as increasing\ntemperature, biological invasions, biodiversity loss, habitat fragmentation,\nover-exploitation, have been shown to simplify food webs by\nconcentrating energy flow along fewer pathways, threatening long-term\ncommunity persistence. More worryingly, it has been shown that communities\ncan abruptly change from highly diverse to simplified stable states with\nlittle or no warning. Altogether, evidence shows that apart from the\nchallenge of tackling climate change and hampering the extinction of\nthreatened species, we need urgent action to tackle large-scale biological\nchange and specifically to protect food webs, as we are under the risk of pushing\nentire ecosystems outside their safe zones. At the same time, we need to\ngain a better understanding of the global-scale synergies and trade-offs\nbetween climate change and biological change. Here we highlight the most\npressing challenges for the conservation of natural food webs and recent\nadvances that might help us addressing such challenges.","PeriodicalId":54320,"journal":{"name":"Web Ecology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2020-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"28","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Web Ecology","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5194/we-20-1-2020","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 28
Abstract
Abstract. All organisms are ultimately dependent on a large diversity of consumptive
and non-consumptive interactions established with other organisms, forming
an intricate web of interdependencies. In 1992, when 1700 concerned
scientists issued the first “World Scientists' Warning to Humanity”, our
understanding of such interaction networks was still in its infancy. By
simultaneously considering the species (nodes) and the links that glue them
together into functional communities, the study of modern food webs – or
more generally ecological networks – has brought us closer to a predictive
community ecology. Scientists have now observed, manipulated, and modelled
the assembly and the collapse of food webs under various global change
stressors and identified common patterns. Most stressors, such as increasing
temperature, biological invasions, biodiversity loss, habitat fragmentation,
over-exploitation, have been shown to simplify food webs by
concentrating energy flow along fewer pathways, threatening long-term
community persistence. More worryingly, it has been shown that communities
can abruptly change from highly diverse to simplified stable states with
little or no warning. Altogether, evidence shows that apart from the
challenge of tackling climate change and hampering the extinction of
threatened species, we need urgent action to tackle large-scale biological
change and specifically to protect food webs, as we are under the risk of pushing
entire ecosystems outside their safe zones. At the same time, we need to
gain a better understanding of the global-scale synergies and trade-offs
between climate change and biological change. Here we highlight the most
pressing challenges for the conservation of natural food webs and recent
advances that might help us addressing such challenges.
Web EcologyAgricultural and Biological Sciences-Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
CiteScore
4.60
自引率
0.00%
发文量
6
审稿时长
17 weeks
期刊介绍:
Web Ecology (WE) is an open-access journal issued by the European Ecological Federation (EEF) representing the ecological societies within Europe and associated members. Its special value is to serve as a publication forum for national ecological societies that do not maintain their own society journal. Web Ecology publishes papers from all fields of ecology without any geographic restriction. It is a forum to communicate results of experimental, theoretical, and descriptive studies of general interest to an international audience. Original contributions, short communications, and reviews on ecological research on all kinds of organisms and ecosystems are welcome as well as papers that express emerging ideas and concepts with a sound scientific background.